Some in GOP squirm over Ryan plan

Some Republicans are already squirming over a vote that provides a ready-made campaign ad for their opponents: Rep. Paul Ryan’s fiscal 2012 budget, which will restructure Medicare, alter Medicaid funding and slash $6 trillion from federal spending over 10 years.

Whether they’re new lawmakers in formerly Democratic seats or House veterans who represent districts with large elderly populations dependent on Medicare, a significant number of Republicans realize that embracing the Ryan plan may be one of the most treacherous votes of the year.

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So rather than taking a strong stand, they’re hedging during the leadup to the roll call.

Rep. Tim Murphy, a fifth-term Republican who represents a western Pennsylvania district south of Pittsburgh with roughly 17 percent of residents older than 65, is still undecided. Susan Mosychuk, Murphy’s chief of staff, said it’s a “high-profile vote” that they are “still taking a look at.”

Rep. Gus Bilirakis, a Republican from western Florida with a district in which roughly 20 percent of its residents are older than 65, is “still looking it over and trying to decide.”

“Last I talked to him [Monday] night, he was still trying to figure out what all is in it and what might be affected,” said his spokesman, Creighton Welch.

Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.), one of the most high-profile freshmen, said he’s undecided. Rep. Steve Southerland, a Republican who took Democrat Allen Boyd’s northern Florida seat, is in the same place as Bilirakis. So is Ohio freshman Rep. Jim Renacci.

“He’s still reviewing it,” said Southerland spokesman Matthew McCullough. “He’s looking at what the long-term implications are for reducing the deficit. We’re still in a holding pattern as to what he’s going to say on that.”

With 241 lawmakers in their caucus, House Republicans can afford a few defections, so their budget isn’t in danger of going down in flames. But annual budget resolutions are intended as party unity moments, in which the majority passes a spending plan that’s a statement of its long-term vision on spending.

Privately, rank-and-file offices on Capitol Hill are whispering that the Republican leadership is asking its members to take a tough vote on a bill that has no chance of becoming law — Ryan’s budget is dead on arrival in the Senate, still ruled by Democrats.